GOVERNOR RIDGE: I've just completed a conference call
with the nation's governors to let them know what I'm here to share
with the American people. I might add, I also wanted to
commend them for their work in improving and strengthening homeland
security since September 11th. We've been in frequent communication
either with the organizations or with individual governors, and I think
their work to date has reflected the kind of relationship between the
federal and the state and local government that we need to make a
permanent part of our homeland security defense.

Over the last several days our intelligence in law enforcement
agencies have seen an increased volume in level of activity involving
threats of terrorist attacks. The information we have does
not point to any specific target either in America or
abroad. And it does not outline any specific type of
attack.

However, the analysts who review this information believe the
quantity and level of threats are above the norm and have reached a
threshold where we should once again place the public on general alert,
just as we have done on two previous occasions since September 11th.

During his address on homeland security in Atlanta, President Bush
promised the American people that when we have evidence of credible
threats we will issue appropriate alerts. That is exactly
what we're doing here today.

The President also reminded all of us that a terrorism alert is not
a signal to stop your life. It is a call to be vigilant, to
know that your government is on high alert and to add your eyes and
your ears to our efforts to find and stop those who want to do us
harm.

Our government is taking precautions. This afternoon,
the FBI is issuing a terrorist threat advisory update to 18,000 law
enforcement agencies across the country through the National Law
Enforcement Telecommunication System known as NLETS. Law
enforcement agencies have been instructed to stay on the highest alert
and to immediately notify the FBI of any unusual or suspicious
activity.

Again, I emphasize this perhaps to my own peril, but, again, the
threats we are picking up are very generic. They warn of
more attacks, but are not specific about where or what
type. We do know that the next several weeks, which bring
the final weeks of Ramadan and important religious observations in
other faiths, have been times when terrorists have planned attacks in
the past.

One example is December of 1999. Authorities in Jordan,
Canada and the United States uncovered and prevented plans for a series
of attacks related to the dawn of the new millennium. Those
plans were thwarted when intelligence learned about them, and law
enforcement arrested the suspected terrorists.

Now, obviously, the further removed we get from September 11th, I
think the natural tendency is to let down our
guard. Unfortunately, we cannot do that. We are a
nation at war. We are the targets of enemies who have
demonstrated they have no remorse about killing thousands of innocent
civilians. The government will continue to do everything we
can to find and stop those who seek to harm us. And I
believe we owe it to the American people to remind them that they must
be vigilant, as well.

I also know the very first question the American people will ask,
so Governor Ridge, besides being vigilant, what else should my family
and I do? The answer is you should report any suspicious
activity or behavior to local authorities. And perhaps as
importantly, you should heed the words of your President, who has
called on all of us to rely on our good judgment and our common sense
to continue to live in a spirit of courage and optimism and resolve, to
defeat the enemy.

Q What makes these threats credible, besides
the volume? And are they coming from any specific terrorist
group or cell, for example, al Qaeda?

GOVERNOR RIDGE: Every single day the intelligence
community gathers information and makes judgments -- renders judgments
about their credibility and their relevance. And the
accumulation of information we've received over the past couple of days
has risen to the level where we thought it was appropriate to again put
out a general alert.

It comes from multiple sources, and obviously there are men and
women within the community whose business it has been for years to take
a look at that information and draw conclusions and determine what we
should do about it. But it is just the volume, as well as,
obviously, the credibility associated with some of the information
we've received that led us to have this discussion around which there
was no disagreement -- that it was at the volume and at the level we
should remind America we're still at war, we're still at risk, be
vigilant, be aware.

Q Is there any connection between this new
warning and the Israeli attacks and the Israeli response to the
Palestinian suicide bombings?

GOVERNOR RIDGE: There is nothing in the information that
we received that would draw a specific connection. But it is
important, I think, to note that from time to time, and even in a very
vigilant society that's had to deal with acts of political terrorism,
not for months, but for decades, that the unthinkable can happen and
innocent people can be killed.

Q Governor Ridge, do you feel that there has
been, as you said, law enforcement agencies letting down their guard,
and the public letting down their guard, since Ashcroft announced that
there was a heightened state of alert a couple weeks ago? Do
you feel that the American public has kind of moved in a sense of
comfort since that heightened state of alert and nothing has happened?

GOVERNOR RIDGE: Well, I think that America generally has
remained at a state of readiness and alert and, fortunately, has
basically accepted the President's encouragement to go live your lives
-- at least the retail sales on the day after Thanksgiving suggested
that a lot of people were back into a routine normally associated with
this time of the year.

But I think it is very predictable and very understandable and very
human, the further you get, the further away you are from an event,
that distance and time may even unconsciously erode your commitment,
erode that wariness, that attention span. And so, again, to
remind everyone we're still at war, we're still at risk. The
one war/two battlefields, you know, you've seen pictures of those
Marines and those soldiers digging in, they don't have to be reminded
because they've got a conventional battlefield. Ours is still an
unconventional battlefield and I think it's very appropriate that we
remind all Americans to be at alert.

Q Governor Ridge, to follow up, the last
time you were here in the briefing room you told us that we were on a
state of alert indefinitely. Did you ever specifically ask local or
federal officials to back off of that state of alert? Or
have they backed off in any way?

GOVERNOR RIDGE: I would suspect, depending on the state
and depending on the decisions that some of the governors may have made
in terms of the resources and the people they've committed to defending
what they consider to be points of vulnerability in their states, they
may have made some adjustments. And, basically, in my
conversation with my colleagues a few minutes ago, I said now is not
the time to back off. I believe you're out there, I believe
you're vigilant, but over the next several weeks, based on this
information, it's my recommendation you remain at the state of
readiness.

And the other recommendation, frankly, was to remind their
citizens, no matter where you live, it can be a big state with a dense
population, or you can be a smaller state with a lot of rural
communities. We have no way of assuring or guaranteeing or
pinpointing where the terrorists will attack.

Q Can I ask you about the
anthrax? Are you guys now satisfied that Ottilie Lundgren's
case came from cross-contamination? And is that, frankly,
more of a reason for people to worry about the mail than less?

GOVERNOR RIDGE: Based upon the identification of the
letter that followed the Daschle letter, and its delivery to the home
in her neighborhood, it certainly offers a plausible explanation for
what transpired. But it's also, at least to date, in
conflict with the fact that they'd taken swabs in her house where the
mail may have been deposited, and other places, and there are no traces
in her home. So I think it adds some credibility to an
explanation, but it does not confirm that explanation.

Q Governor, can you help us and the American
people understand the scope of this new information? Does
this increased level picked up by intelligence services emanate from
one part of the world, or is it communications with terrorist cells
around the world? And do any of the communications -- is the
source of those communications here in the United States?

GOVERNOR RIDGE: The information we receive is literally
from, as you report and as you know, from all around the
world. The sources, in terms of their geography, are no
different than anything that we received in the past. But --
I mean the origin. But the sources are more credible, and we
might just say the decibel level is higher, as they talk about
potential attacks.

Again, the origin is pretty much the same in terms of the location
of where the information may have been gathered. But the --
those people involved in the communication we deemed as more
credible. And it's also the volume over the past couple of
days.

Q If I could follow up on that, if I
may. As you evaluate when to come before the American people
and issue the kind of alert you're issuing here, is it a function more
of quantity of intelligence, or quality? Can you give a --
if you have any kind of a framework that you can share with us, we'd
certainly love to know about that.

GOVERNOR RIDGE: Well, it's a very appropriate
question. Suffice it to say that judgments are placed upon
the different kinds of communication, the different kinds of
information received on a day-to-day basis. And, obviously,
within the intelligence community we've got a lot of very talented
people with a great deal of experience and are very
intuitive. A lot of them are very intuitive about the kind
of information they've received, and their ability to connect the dots
is based upon experience, as well.

And sometimes there's legitimate disagreement within the community
as to whether or not they're specific enough or credible enough, or
rise to a level where you've got to bring this matter before the
American public. And, unfortunately -- giving you a general answer to
a specific question, it's more of an art than a science -- but the
conclusion of everyone who has looked at this information over the past
couple days was, again, a time to remind America we're at war, we're
fighting them in Afghanistan, we've got to fight them in America, and
one of the best ways to combat your enemy is to be alert and be mindful
-- be situationally aware.

Q Is this information specifically
connected, did you say, to the observations of Ramadan or other
holidays? And did you consider the impact on holiday retail
sales of making this warning, and how did that discussion go?

GOVERNOR RIDGE: Certainly, the convergence of different
religious observations over the next couple of weeks is -- and the
impact that that has on the celebration of faith and holidays is
something that we certainly took into consideration.

But you know, terrorists, even if there was a specific timetable or
a specific holiday toward which they were pointing -- I mean, I think
we know, based on previous experience, that if we were able to disrupt
that activity, and if they had to postpone it, they would wait until
they were prepared and could strike.

So, yes, it was considered. We don't believe there
should be, nor there will be, any change in anybody's plans to
participate in their religious holidays and to enjoy the seasons and
their families. But, again, the convergence of information
suggests, ladies and gentlemen of America: We're at
war. Be on alert.

Q Governor Ridge, how should the public
understand the process, this alert process? You come out and
give us alerts from time to time, and tell people what you're told them
today. But alerts never seem to get lifted; we just get new
ones to replace the old ones. And I'm just wondering if you
worry about people becoming jaded as a result of this process.

Q What's the President's role in --

GOVERNOR RIDGE: The President -- this matter was
presented to the President this morning, and he approved our decision
to go forward and make the announcement. Discerning
specific, credible information and concluding that it gives rise to a
reminder to America that we're still at war, is a -- as I said before,
is an art, it's not a science. And it would be so much
easier, admittedly, if there were more specifics we could refer to.
But there are not.

These are shadow soldiers. This is a shadow
enemy. As a soldier, from time to time, in my personal
experience and a lot of other soldiers have experienced in a more
conventional wartime situation, offer -- often, you are given
information about the location of the enemy, the size of the enemy,
perhaps how the enemy is equipped. This is a little bit
different time.

But, again, as we make those calculations and draw those
conclusions, there's not always broad-based agreement that this is a
credible threat. We viewed these as credible, and that's why we're
just asking America to be on alert, be ready.

Q Is this more serious than the other two
threats, though? Is this alert -- threat alert more serious
than the previous two?

GOVERNOR RIDGE: You know, conceivably, if you take a
look, this has been the third alert, clearly. But every day,
we accumulate information. Every day, the analysts take a look at the
sources. Every day, they try to put the dots
together. But it's not every day that either Attorney
General Ashcroft or I have come out to the podium. And it
has been the aggregation of this information and the unanimous
conclusion by the experts over the past couple of days as they've
looked at it, it's now time to come back out and tell -- remind America
we're still at war and be on alert.